June 2017

I’ve been wanting to get some video of the garage solar panels from a drone. However, I don’t own one, so I just threw out on social media “Hey, anyone have a drone they could bring over?” My friend, Teng, who I know through Drive Smart Wisconsin (originally Milwaukee Hybrid Group) said that his brother […]

What does LEGACY mean? To some, it might be computer software that still needs to be supported, even though it’s old. To others, it might be something you think about with retirement planning. To me, it’s always just meant what we leave behind, our footsteps in the sand. This last week, I had plenty of […]

(Editor’s note: Unforeseen circumstances prevented this post from being immediately written after the fair. This post was written 7/1/2017, but posted as though it was directly after the June 16 to 18, 2017 Fair.) I gotta say, the ENERGY FAIR WAS AMAZING!!! And to be clear, I wasn’t blown away by attendance, but rather by […]

Hi folks! First, let me say that the MREA Energy Fair this weekend was AMAZING! We had TONS of plug-in cars, JB Straubel doing the keynote address, and of course all of the weekend workshops! My DIY Solar Garage workshop was packed! I promised a few of the folks there that I would be making […]

Today, I was up at 4 AM for work and had a short day. As I was driving back home mid-morning, I noticed the roads were wet. We had a thunderstorm roll through my neighborhood while I wasn’t there. I saw a power utility truck at the transformer just past my backyard. It didn’t take […]

Bam! My solar is now fully operational! This morning, the electrical inspector stopped by. I pulled off the cover of the MidNite Solar AC Disconnect Box for him to look inside. That was about it. VERY simple inspection for the solar. I also had a sample of the Enphase trunk cabling to show him. After […]

We got the wiring for the solar done! My electrician, Ross, came over and we set to work on the wiring. I already had mounted electrical boxes to the racking on the roof and connected the Enphase Engage cable to the boxes with liquid-tight cable strain reliefs. I also made the conduit connections from the boxes […]